Monthly Archives: August 2014

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As we approach the middle of August, we find that the Back-to-School shopping season is already upon us. And being prepared to move into the next grade is extremely important business. A lack of readiness or absolute preparedness greatly affects the mood you set for your school year. Which kind of mood you set is up to you.

It’s a very wise idea to have your clothing labeled at school when you’re changing into your gym clothes for Phy. Ed. class. And, of course, you’ll want your name on your jacket and snow pants when you bring them to school.

Iron On Clothing Name Labels and Stick On Name Labels from Everything Summer Camp are available in a plethora of vibrant colors and four, cool backgrounds. Go with your favorite color, the Dots background, Camo, Hex, or Botanical Explosion! These labels are sure to look great on all your school items.

Check us out for other labeling methods too, like our customizable, multi-purpose Clothing Stamp. Or go the manual way with a set of laundry markers! Put it all to good use and arrive at school labeled!

Hiking, pitching a tent, sittin’ ‘round the campfire…there’s a whole slew of iconic, camp-themed activities, but none are quite as delicious as fire-roasting S’mores. One bite is never enough with these hot, chocolaty, and gooey dessert sandwiches.

The dessert’s true history is somewhat of a mystery as one Alec Barnum is typically credited as the inventor of the S’more, though the recipe appears in a book that was written by the Girl Scouts of 1927 called Trampling and Trailing with the Girl Scouts.

A simple sandwich of roasted marshmallows and a piece of chocolate melted between two Graham Crackers, S’mores are a classic summertime treat! Simple as they may be, they’re incredibly popular, especially when a campfire is going!

But where simplicity resides, people will always find a way to complicate it—which is a good thing because the only way to really complicate something as simple as a S’more is to make it a really, really BIG S’more! Some folks at the Beals Point Campground near Folsom Lake in Sacramento County figured they may as well shoot for the world’s largest S’more.

So they did. They made one gigantic S’more that was a little over a half-ton (that’s more than 1,000 lbs.)! They used 8,000 Hershey’s chocolate bars, 20,000 Campfire marshmallows, and 25,000 Graham Crackers! It measured 70’ x 100’ by the time the S’more was completed! That is one HUMONGOUS S’more!“Could we safely say that this is would be the mother of all S’mores?” asked Roy Sterns who works with the California State Parks. Well, Roy, Guinness did! Congratulations!

Since it’s National S’more Day, what better day to celebrate the world’s largest S’more and S’mores in general?! Get a campfire going in your own backyard so you can roast these delicious dessert sandwiches for yourself!

Thanks for reading!

- John

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If you’re like me and you love to read, then today is right up your alley! Find your favorite place to read and plant your face in your favorite book because today is National Book Lovers Day! It doesn’t matter if you’re sitting under a shady tree or curled up in a nice, big chair—it’s what you’re reading that counts. After all, books offer a whole different world to which you can escape!

I remember when I was young. I’d make weekly trips to the library and come home with piles of new books. I’d climb high up the birch tree in the backyard bringing an apple and a book and stay up there for hours completely entranced in a fictional world.

People have enjoyed the written word since ancient times. But book manufacturing used to be much different and more difficult than it is today. The books that were made back then were typically printed on parchment paper or calf skin and bound between two pieces of leather-covered wood.

The Etruscan Gold Book is considered the oldest book in the world. 2,673 years old, this book consists of six, 24 carat gold sheets that are bound together with rings.

Books are cool. That’s for certain. So, whether it means enjoying an adventure with ‘Clifford the Big, Red Dog’ or cracking open Homer’s ‘The Odyssey’, today’s the perfect day for it! Discover the excitement waiting for you between those two, intriguing covers!

Even in today’s modern world of exponentially-advancing technology, the age-old skill of reading hasn’t budged. Challenged by television, movies, YouTube, and more, reading has only grown stronger in today’s day and age. With the advent of the e-book reader, such as a Reader, Nook, or Kindle, books have made quite an evolutionary step. At the same time, they haven’t really changed at all!

Whether you’re flipping pages like in the old days or scrolling on your e-book reader, enjoy National Book Lovers Day and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

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About a year ago, I told you about Shelby. She’s one of our great Call Center Representatives at Everything Summer Camp. She helps our customers (like you) place their orders over the phone. If you called us to place an order in the last three years then it’s possible that you’ve talked to Shelby!

I told you about her role in the Call Center calling customers back with questions about personalized products, handling returned items, and emailing customers for further contact. But today, I’d like to give you a better idea of what Shelby’s life is like outside of work.

While she grew up here, in Boyd, WI, she’s currently attending her senior year at UW Whitewater where she majors in Special Education and minors in Human Services. She’s also into Track at her college but not nearly as much as Shot put. Having thrown a shot 49’ and 7”, Shelby’s goal is to, at least once, become a national champ. She’s got quite an arm on her!

Shelby doesn’t like to toot her own horn, so I will for her. She’s AWESOME! She’s been doing it since the seventh grade, so she’s had nearly a decade to hone her skill. As for what inspired Shelby to try Shot put, she says, “My mom forced me into it,” but follows up quickly to say, “I’m glad she did!”

Very good for a place like Whitewater (a D-3 college), Shelby seems to think that, while she may stand a chance against a D-1 college (like Madison), she definitely wouldn’t be the champ. I’ll let you be the judge. Check out these great throws from Shelby under the post and thanks for reading!

You know what? Unfortunately, everybody’s human. And since we’re only human, some of us, from time to time, end up making poor decisions. Stealing, though completely unethical and hurtful to the person who’s being stolen from, is a rather popular crime. Thing is, you typically don’t need to be a master thief in order to pull off these sort of crimes.

They’re called Crimes of Opportunity and they can happen most frequently when you’re living in a communal setting like at a boarding school or a college campus. See, when untrustworthy people walk past your room, your door is wide open, and no one’s inside, it makes it easy for them to spot that cool new video game you recently bought or that expensive purse that everyone just HAS to have—and why? Because the opportunity was there.

Don’t give them the opportunity.

Bring your C&N Footlocker to school to lock up your valuables tight. Whether you go with, the C&N big, bad strongbox—The Graduate—(our biggest footlocker), The Slim Footlocker case which fits under most beds, or any of our other sizes in between, the rugged construction of all C&N Footlockers is sure to keep your valuables safe, out of sight, and locked away.

All C&N Footlockers are constructed with 3/8″, solid Aspen plywood and the outside is covered with a scratch-resistant, lead-free steel, then finished with zinc-plated hardware. The spacious insides are lined with DuraWrap, a water and odor resistant, virtually tear-proof paper liner.

You can use its surface as an extra nightstand in your room, as a sit-down bench, or a stand-on ladder. Its many uses will certainly come in handy around your room. Keep your valuables locked away in a C&N Footlocker while you’re at school and don’t allow yourself to become the victim of a crime of opportunity.

Making friends comes as natural as your ABC’s. A couple months ago I posted a series on this Blog about the ease of making friends at summer camp. Whether you’re a little shy or dreadfully terrified of talking to others, once you’re there at camp, you don’t even think about it. You’ll naturally start talking to other kids and become fast friends with them.

It’s just a given. That’s what happens at camp.

But camp isn’t the only place where it’s easy to make friends! You can do it at school, at the beach, at the park, at your brother’s birthday party…the world is brimming with friendly, smiling faces, all ripe for the befriending.

Though the United Nations did not officially recognize World Friendship Day until 2011, the history of this day dates back all the way to 1919 when the greeting card company Hallmark first founded it. It wasn’t an international holiday at that point—just a day Hallmark invented. The day was meant for friends to send each other greeting cards noting the friendship between one another.

When World War II came, it extinguished the market and a little after 1940, the day had gone completely extinct!

It was over 50 years later in 1998 that the United Nations (very curiously) appointed Winnie the Pooh as the World’s Ambassador of Friendship. And by 2011, Friendship Day was resurrected now as an officially recognized international holiday.

Happy World Friendship Day to everyone and, as always, thanks for reading!
- John